Grumman F-14 Super Tomcat

The F-14 Super Tomcat was the last variation of this legendary aircraft. She entered into service in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and ruled the skies until she was finally retired from the U.S. Navy’s active fleet on September 22, 2006.

Due to astronomical costs to keep her operational and the emergence of the lethal Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. It was inevitable that the Grumman F-14 Tomcat would be retired. Don’t worry! The fleet is still in good hands but the Navy sure misses the Tomcat but NOT its adversaries. This aircraft was so deadly, she could be pulled out of retirement right now and still be a formidable frontline fighter!

Grumman F-14 Tomcat – Last Official Flight – Worth Seeing!

The final two F-14 Squadrons, the VF-213 Black Lions and the VF-31 Tomcatters landed for the last time at Naval Air Station Oceana on March 10, 2006. It wasn’t until September 22. 2006 when the Navy conducted the F-14 retirement ceremony where she officially flew for the final time. Well almost, she did fly one more time on October 6, 2006 which was a simple ferry.

She flew for the last and final time from NAS Oceana, Virginia up to Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York. You can watch her “OFFICIAL” final flight in the video above and see her fly in all her glory. The F-14 Tomcat was a super predator feared by our enemies and loved by an entire nation. To me, the F-14 Tomcat was the most beautiful fighter plane ever built and the most deadly. I hope you enjoy the last flight!

F-14 Tomcat Top Speed

Before we talk about the F-14 Tomcat Top Speed, let’s talk about the heart and soul of this airplane, the engines. Not only is the F-14 Super Tomcat the most beautiful airplane ever created. She is also one of the most deadliest. The F-14 Tomcat was built to counter the Mig-25 Foxbat which was a Russian high altitude interceptor.

The United States Navy had nothing in their inventory to counter this threat so Grumman designed the F-14 Tomcat and the rest is history. The F-14 Tomcat is powered by powerful twin Turbofan, General Electric F110 jet engines. These beasts can reach a top speed of 1,544 mph and with it’s variable-geometry wings and aerodynamic design can fly at low speed too!

This makes the F-14 Tomcat a superb dogfighter and extremely maneuverable. In the right hands of a capable pilot the F-14 Tomcat can outmatch just about any jet fighter in service. This includes even today’s hi-tech military aircraft. They only retired her because of costs and NOT performance. She was DEADLY!

Even though the F-14 Tomcat was a great dogfighter, she could also target 6 aircraft at the same time with the revolutionary Phoenix missile system. The AIM-54 Phoenix is a radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile (AAM). The F-14 could carry six of these bad boys. The AN/AWG-9 guidance radar was the first aerial weapons system that could engage multiple targets simultaneously.

The Movie That Started It All – Top Gun Legendary Opening Scene & Credits!

The F-14 Tomcat was featured in the 1986 blockbuster hit, “TOPGUN”! That movie put the F-14 on the world stage and is still considered one of the most famous airplanes of all time just because of a movie. In the fighter pilot community, the F-14 Tomcat is world famous for another reason and it’s not because of the movie!

Top Gun brings back a lot of memories and is one of the great movies of all-time! Anyone over the age of 45 remembers when this movie hit the box office. This movie also inspired a generation of fighter pilots who all dreamed of flying the F-14 just like “Maverick” and “Iceman” did in the movie.

Go ahead and watch the short video presentation above. This is the opening scene to the legendary movie Top Gun. The video is only 8 or 9 minutes long. Make sure you have your sound all the way up so you can hear the music and the unmistakeable roar from those nasty F-14 Tomcat engines. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Top Gun is one of my all time favorite movies so I thought I’d share this clip with you. After all, you van’t talk about the F-14 Tomcat and not mention Top Gun. The F-14 Tomcat is what makes the movie great as far as I’m concerned. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the video presentation as much as I did.

F-14 Tomcat Cockpit

The F-14 Tomcat Cockpit is where all the magic happens and is a fight pilots dream! The F-14 fits a fighter pilot and its crew just like a glove. It’s like strapping the F-14 to your butt! All the controls are easily accessible and the HUD (Heads Up Display) supplies the pilot with all the information he needs.

The cockpit photo above is from the last variation of the F-14 which was the F-14D. As you can see it’s a tight fit in there so make sure you don’t eat too many cheeseburgers or they’ll kick you out of the flight program. All kidding aside, the F-14 is a two seat fighter plane outfitted with Martin-Baker GRU-7A rocket-propelled ejection seats.

The pilot in command sits up front while the flight engineer sits right behind him. It’s the pilots job to fly the airplane while the engineer is in charge of the weapons systems among other responsibilities. The F-14 has great all around view from inside the cockpit so the pilot has an unprecedented view of what’s going on outside the aircraft.

Inside the nose of the F-14 are several bulky avionics systems which include the Hughes AN/AWG-9 X band radar and has integrated Identification friend or foe antennas. These are the eyes and ears of the Tomcat and was the most advanced radar system in the world at the time. There was no sneaking up on this cat!

There were many upgrades to the F-14 Tomcat Cockpit while she was in service. As technology and weapons systems got better so did the F-14 Tomcat! There was a total of 712 Tomcats built and their were 4 variations of it. The F-14, F-14A, F-14B and the F-14D. Each variation was better than the last ending with the F-14D Super Tomcat.

F-14 Super Tomcat – The Discovery Channel – Wings Documentary

The F-14 Tomcat is one of the greatest fighter planes ever built and she ruled the skies during her time. She was the big stick the U.S. Navy was looking for in a time when she was needed the most. It was a sad day when the F-14 was finally retired. However, all things come to an end but we’ll never forget the F-14 Tomcat!

She is probably the all-time BEST Naval Fighter plane. There has never been anything like it since or ever again. I don’t think we’ll ever see another swept wing fighter like the F-14 ever again but that’s okay. There is only one F-14 Tomcat and it should stay that way. I am in favor of bringing her back out of retirement.

Some of the Navy Brass are in favor of bringing her back but that remains to be seen. If there is a way to bring down the operations cost, they might consider it but I wouldn’t hold my breathe. There were projected variants of the F-14 that were never built. Perhaps they will consider building those variants in the future.

I’ve seen concept art of a stealth version of the F-14 Tomcat that looked like a Buck Rogers spaceship. It would be interesting to see a stealth version of the F-14 someday. To me, the F-14 Tomcat will always be the most beautiful girl in the room. There’s just nothing else that looks as sexy as the F-14 Tomcat!

F-14 Flight Sim

How would you like to fly the F-14 Super Tomcat right NOW? Even though the F-14 has been retired from service you can still fly her in all her glory with the MOST REALISTIC flight simulator ever created for a home PC!

Climb aboard the LEGENDARY F-14 Tomcat and blast-off the deck of an aircraft carrier. Virtual Pilot 3D is the MOST ADVANCED flight sim you can buy! There is no other flight simulator game on the market that even comes close! This is NOT just a F-14 Flight Sim! Virtual Pilot 3D has well over 200 airplanes and helicopters to choose from.

Each aircraft is exactly like their real-life counterparts. If it’s in the plane than in it’s in the game. Every cockpit is an exact replica and all the knobs and switches are clickable. YOU have to fly these planes just like a real pilot would or you can fly around arcade style. The choice is always yours with Virtual Pilot 3D!

Go ahead and click the button below to fly the F-14 Super Tomcat NOW! Even if you’ve never flown a plane before. Virtual Pilot 3D will have you up in the air in no time at all. There are video tutorials so Virtual Pilot 3D has got you covered. If you have any comments or questions. Please leave them below and I’ll get back to you A.S.A.P.!